A very specific question from a true n00b

[SteadyMess]

Hello everyone!

 

Thank you for letting me join this message board. I do believe I've read all the rules pertaining to this forum but I pre-apologize if I mess up. 

 

So. I am completely new to Final Fantasy - I have never played it before - and the reason why I'm curious is because I'm looking for an online, active community that roleplays in games. A few friends of mine recommended FINAL FANTASY XIV and I've been curious but before I get into all the lore, all the details and all the mechanics, in terms of roleplaying, there's something very specific I'm after. I would like to roleplay as a barmaid and not 'level up' competitively at all. I'm not trolling, haha. I used to do this a lot in WoW, just hanging out in Stormwind as a lvl 20 for two years and serve people drinks while talking to them. It was pretty darn fun!

 

Is this a thing at all in FF XIV RP-ing community? Can I do this or is it just too frickin weird? 

 

I don't want to shell out a bunch of money and time learning about everything, only to realize there are no bars or that people in the community hates this kind of stuff. 

 

Aaaanyway. Hope you all are having a good day!

 

 

[Unnamed Mercenary]

While you certainly can purposely not level a character, you'll be missing out on a lot of lore, story, and access to other areas as expansion content is locked behind the main scenario quests.

 

If you aren't planning on reaching endgame/expansion stuff, then I'd say to start the game with a trial account as it lasts unlimited time, with some restrictions, such as no item trading, levels are capped at 30. (or 35. I can't remember). 

 

I'd say it's more the norm that RPers in FFXIV have a split between what their character does and what their OOC levels in things are, as you can level every class and job on a single character. There are many non-combat oriented RPers out there, but again, without leveling, you'll be effectively locking yourself to areas accessible only in A Real Reborn, as Heavensward and Stormblood require progression, as will the upcoming expansion, Shadowbringers.

[Caspar]

I've known players doing this kind of RP and they simply don't have their IC strength reflected by level; most players I know don't take level into account. However, you can actually have your cake and eat it too in FFXIV, since you level multiple jobs on one character. If you really don't care about leveling a certain job on this character, like say, Culinarian, which just so happens to have a lot of gear suitable for this RP, you could totally keep it unleveled and switch to it whenever you RP. 

 

It wouldn't be terribly difficult to do. Leveling the job would give you access to better glamours, but there is plenty of lvl 1 buyable/craftable outfits that would serve your needs. You will probably want to get at least far enough on your ooc combat class to go to other cities though.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Caspar

[Kaizyr]

14 hours ago, SteadyMess said:

I would like to roleplay as a barmaid and not 'level up' competitively at all. I'm not trolling, haha. I used to do this a lot in WoW, just hanging out in Stormwind as a lvl 20 for two years and serve people drinks while talking to them. It was pretty darn fun!

 

I used to do this too and I TOTALLY support your venture to do it on FFXIV!

 

Like Caspar suggests, definitely do a bit of leveling along the Main Story Quests (MSQs) so that you have access to the three major cities. The MSQs are a quest chain so you can't skip any of them, and the one to travel among the 3 capitals requires you to be level 15. That said, you can raise every job to level 35 on one character while you're playing the Free Trial version.

 

You may have to improvise your bartending immersion, though. As far as I'm aware, FFXIV's gameplay doesn't let you behind the major bar counters  Best of luck! Let us know where you decide to open shop  

[Tadir]

Welcome! And there is nothing wrong with playing a bartender. I'd consider using crafting classes, but it's not necessary. If you DO level up to 30, which is pretty easy, you can have a chocobo that will protect you as you go about your business.